Kyles Musical Tour

Having been to many rituals in my life, such as funerals, graduations, quinceañeras, birthday celebrations, weddings, I find that music at funerals are special. My grandmother passed away when I was 13, and then my grandfather when I was 15, then also my friend at high school at 17. Looking back at the music, and just the emotions that were running through the room was inexplainable. The feelings of sorrow, nostalgia, sadness, sense of loss is real. I think what makes music at a funeral so special is the melodies and the themes. Music played at a funeral is generally slow and melancholic. Which naturally evokes the feeling of sadness and loss. The themes of the songs, are also generally about love, remembrance, loss, and that can resonate deeply with people. I remember going to my grandmother and grandfathers funeral crying and feeling a huge remembrance of memories I had with them. There hasn't been a similar feeling to those I felt at a funeral.  I wanted to add a couple songs, a...

Family, and the people that raise us, have a lot of influence on our lives. One major area is our music exposure. I grew up with my parents in California, as well as three older siblings in the household. My mom, who I interviewed for this assignment, has had the most influence on my music taste. Now that I am older, and away from home, my mom and I's musical bond and relationship have gotten much stronger. Here is how the dialogue went: Me: What genre, or artist did you mainly listen to when you were younger?  Mom: I mainly listened to classic rock, bands like the Beatles, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and the Foreigner. Me: How has music changed throughout the years? Or decades? Mom: Now in the present day, there are more singular artists. There is more diversity and diversity within genres. For example, there are different types of hip-hop and 4 types of country music. Artists are also being more expressive. There are more narratives, more storytelling, and more messages being sent...

 Growing up, listening to a predominantly male dominated genre, hip-hop, there was not many popular female artists. And if there was, they weren't talked about very often. When I was in middle, and high school I have no particular memory of listening to female artists. Of any genre. Not hip-hop, not R&B, not country, not even jazz. Most of my social media and internet influence was male based. Being young, and immature, I never really payed attention or had any knowledge of why female artists in the hip-hop industry never got any mainstream attention. Maybe it was me, maybe it was a West Coast thing, maybe it was the environment I was in?  However, later on in my late teens, as I became more mature and aware I started to get connected with the female artists in hip-hop and R&B. Maybe, these artists started to get popular, or maybe it was my own self awareness and the act of expanding my horizons to not just male artists. Artists like Ella Mai, SZA, Jhene Aiko, Cardi B,...

Hello everyone, I'm Kyle Monk. I am a basketball player, an uncle, a brother, a coach, a friend, a student, and a video gamer. I am originally born in Modesto, California. Not the typical Californian lifestyle of palm trees, ocean breezes, and feet in the sand. But, I am 3 hours from the beach, while also being 2 hours from the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. Known as the in the "Central Valley". Basketball is my main passion and love. I fell in love with basketball when I was six years old and have been coaching the past two summers, eventually aspiring to be a coach in the future. Basketball has opened many doors and opportunities for me. Bringing me to Converse. I found Converse through the transfer portal bringing me on a visit here and eventually enrolling as a student athlete. I am the youngest of four children and currently an Uncle to my 6 year old nephew and 3 year old niece. I have never to been to the East Coast so I am excited to learn more about the culture an...